Census categories misrepresent the 'street race' of Latinos, Afro Latinos, report says

Get Nadine White's Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week's news Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “The current methods of data collection used by the OMB fail to accurately reflect the realities of racial discrimination faced by Latinos,” said Cecilia Nuñez, co-author of the report titled “ Latino is Not a Race: Understanding Lived Experiences through Street Race. Nancy Lopéz, a professor and the director and co-founder of the University of New Mexico’s Institute for the Study of “Race” and Social Justice, said with the change people who check the Hispanic and Black or African American boxes are going to be marked as multi-racial instead someone who is of Latino ethnicity and a certain race. “Because they say we’re keeping the analytical distinction, we’re not calling Hispanic a race but we’re going to ask about it with race.” Filling out the 2020 Census was one of the Methuen, Massachusetts resident Antonio Caban’s most troubling memories, having to check the other box despite being a Brazilian who identifies as Latino. “If it has Hispanic or Latino I will pick that one because if it says Black but not Latino, I can’t pick that one.” In their report, the UCLA researchers propose adding a street or perceived race question to the census and for the census office to define its demographic parameters clearly.